BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 463
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|Author: |Hancock |
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|Version: |April 6, 2015 Hearing |
| |Date: April 15, 2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Lynn Lorber |
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Subject: School climate: Safe and Supportive Schools Train the
Trainer Program
SUMMARY
This bill requires the California Department of Education, to
the extent that funding is available in the Budget Act of 2015,
to designate a county office of education to be the fiduciary
agent for the Safe and Supportive Schools Train the Trainer
Program.
BACKGROUND
Positive behavior interventions and supports
Current law:
1. Encourages schools, as comprehensive school safety plans
are reviewed and updated, to include in school safety plans
clear guidelines for the roles and responsibilities of
mental health professionals, community intervention
professionals, school counselors, school resource officers,
and police officers on school campus, if the school
district uses these people. The guidelines may include
primary strategies to create and maintain a positive school
climate, promote school safety, and increase pupil
achievement, and prioritize mental health and intervention
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services, restorative and transformative justice programs,
and positive behavior interventions and support.
(Education Code § 32282.1)
2. Provides that corrective action other than out-of-school
suspension includes study teams, guidance teams, resource
panel teams, or other intervention-related teams that
assess the behavior, and develop and implement
individualized plans to address the behavior in partnership
with the pupil and his or her parents. (EC § 48900.5)
3. Requires that the individualized education team for each
student with exceptional needs consider the use of positive
behavioral interventions and supports for students whose
behavior impedes his or her learning. (EC § 56341.1)
Multi-tiered interventions
Many schools voluntarily follow models of tiered interventions
to address student needs prior to imposing discipline or making
referrals to special education. Models include Schoolwide
Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, Response to
Intervention and Positive Environments Network of Trainers.
Typically, the base tier is a schoolwide approach involving
instruction, school climate, etc. The middle tier is targeted
to students who did not respond to the schoolwide efforts and
involved more intense interventions such as tutoring. The top
tier focuses on a smaller group of students who continue to need
support and may include very intense and frequent services such
as counseling.
The Student Success Team, formerly Student Study Team, is a
positive schoolwide early identification and intervention
process. Working as a team, the student, parent, teacher and
school administrator identify the student's strengths and assets
upon which an improvement plan can be designed. As a regular
school process, the team intervenes with school and community
support and an improvement plan that all team members agree to
follow. Follow-up meetings are planned to provide a continuous
casework management strategy to ensure the needs of students are
met.
ANALYSIS
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This bill requires the California Department of Education, to
the extent that funding is available in the Budget Act of 2015,
to designate a county office of education to be the fiduciary
agent for the Safe and Supportive Schools Train the Trainer
Program. Specifically, this bill:
1. Requires the California Department of Education (CDE), to
the extent that funding is available in the Budget Act of
2015, to designate a county office of education to be the
fiduciary agent for the Safe and Supportive Schools Train
the Trainer Program.
2. Requires the designated county office of education to be
chosen by the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI)
from county offices that apply for designation.
3. Requires the designated county office of education to be in
charge of establishing specific professional development
activities that will lead to statewide professional
development support structures and a network of trainers
allowing for the development and expansion of the
Schoolwide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports
programs, restorative justice, social and emotional
learning, trauma-informed practice, and cultural competency
professional development in each region of the state, with
a specific focus on those regions that are underserved and
do not have access to trainers in these research-based
approaches.
4. Requires the designated county office of education to
consult with the following entities to effectively
implement these strategies throughout the state and
nationally:
A. The Regional K-12 Student Mental Health
Initiative.
B. The National Alliance on Mental
Illness.
C. The California Technical Assistance
Center on Schoolwide Positive Behavior Interventions
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and Supports.
D. The California Association of School
Psychologists.
E. The California County Superintendents
Educational Services Association.
F. The California Mental Health directors
Association.
G. Collaborative for Academic, Social, and
Emotional Learning.
H. University of California, San Francisco
(UCSF) Healthy Environments and Response to Trauma in
Schools Project.
I. Restorative Justice of Oakland Youth.
J. The Restorative Schools Vision Project.
AA. The International Institute for
Restorative Practices.
BB. Other non-profit and public agencies.
5. Requires the designated county office of education to
select an advisory committee made up of stakeholders and
professionals who have participated in the development and
expansion of these programs to assist in the planning and
implementation of this program.
6. Requires funding to be targeted to all of the following
critical activities, within the context of a state-level
plan:
A. Explaining the importance of linking
research-based strategies with local control funding
formula planning and local control and accountability
plans, specifically with respect to the school climate
and student engagement state priority areas.
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B. Creating regional conferences and
workshops on implementation that would provide free
training for school and school district teams.
C. Establishing stipends for release time
for school personnel attending these conferences.
D. Developing best practices of current
district level systems and ensuring that these best
practices are widely disseminated.
E. Establishing a cohort of free or
low-cost trainers and coaches who can be available to
work directly with local school districts in
hard-to-serve areas that are seeking to implement
research-based strategies.
F. Developing a network of educators who
are effectively implementing these practices and
willing to provide coaching and training to other
schools and school districts, particularly in
hard-to-serve areas.
G. Developing statewide methods for
collecting and disseminating best practices in
implementing research-based strategies.
H. Developing evaluation tools to measure
the effectiveness of research-based strategies.
I. Developing specific professional
development and professional learning communities for
teachers utilizing these practices in their classes.
7. Requires the Legislative Analyst's Office to review the
impacts of this professional development effort and report
to the Governor and Legislature by June 30, 2019, on the
breadth and best practices of the training and any student
outcomes impacted by this training effort.
8. Requires any funding allocated for this program to be
expended by January 1, 2019.
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9. States legislative findings and declarations relative to
out-of-school suspension, the identification of school
climate as a state priority, and strategies and practices
that address student needs while reducing suspension and
expulsion rates.
STAFF COMMENTS
1. Need for the bill. According to the author, "Positive
Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) provide a
comprehensive and collaborative prevention and intervention
three-tiered framework for schools to improve academic and
behavioral outcomes for all pupils. It involves explicit
teachings of appropriate behaviors, a consistent positive
rewards system, and a process for providing more intensive
mental health and other interventions for students who
require more support. The PBIS multi-tiered support
systems framework addresses at least five critical areas of
the Local Control and Accountability Plan. These include
academic outcomes, common core standards, school culture
and climate, parent involvement, and student engagement."
2. How many schools currently implement? Many schools
voluntarily follow models of tiered interventions and
restorative justice to address student needs
prior to imposing discipline or making referrals to special
education. Statewide
data on the current implementation of such frameworks or
programs is not collected.
3. Existing resources. The California Department of
Education's (CDE) website includes an implementation and
technical assistance guide for response to intervention,
and information on multi-tiered systems of support.
http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/pn/im/documents/memo-ilsb-plsd-oct1
3item02.doc The Positive Environments, Network of Trainers
is a positive behavior initiative that disseminates through
its website information and resources regarding the use of
proactive positive strategies. http://www.pent.ca.gov/ .
This bill requires the designated county office of
education to establish specific professional development
activities that will lead to statewide professional
development support structures and a network of trainers
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allowing for the development and expansion of various
initiatives and programs. Staff recommends an amendment to
require the designated county office of education to also
identify existing professional development activities and
train-the-trainer models.
4. Designated county office of education. This bill requires
the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to select
the designated county office of education from those that
apply for such designation. This bill does not establish
an application process or guidance for the selection of the
appropriate county office, thereby giving the SPI complete
discretion to determine if the county office is capable of
meeting the fiduciary responsibilities and other
requirements of this bill.
5. Clarifying amendments. This bill requires the designated
county office of education to be "in charge of establishing
specific professional development activities that will lead
to statewide professional development support structures."
Staff recommends an amendment to clarify that the
designated county office of education is responsible for
the development or identification of professional
development activities, and that the professional
development activities are to be available as a statewide
training resource.
This bill requires the designated county office of education to
consult with, among others, UCSF Healthy Environments and
Response to Trauma in Schools project. Staff recommends an
amendment to strike "UCSF" and insert "University of
California, San Francisco."
6. Fiscal impact. According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee analysis of prior legislation, this bill could
impose:
A. One-time costs in the range of $1 million to $2
million for CDE to contract with a county office of
education to create professional development content
and provide statewide professional development
opportunities. This cost estimate also includes
stipends for release time for school personnel
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attending workshops.
B. Unknown General Fund costs, likely in the range
of $80,000 to $100,000, for the Legislative Analyst's
Office (LAO) to review the impacts of professional
development and report on best practices. This report
would
C. require local data collection in order to
evaluate the program impact on students and the
corresponding best practices.
The requirements in the bill are contingent upon funding in
the Budget Act of 2015. No funding source has been
identified at this time.
7. Related and prior legislation.
RELATED LEGISLATION
AB 1133 (Achadjian, 2015) requires the State Public Health
Officer to establish a four-year pilot program to, among
other things, provide free regional training and technical
assistance in support services that include intervention
and prevention services, use of trained staff to meet with
students on a short-term weekly basis in a one-on-one
setting, the potential for support services to help fulfill
state priorities described by the local control funding
formula and local goals described by local control and
accountability plans, and state resources available to
support student mental health and positive learning
environments. AB 1133 is scheduled to be heard by the
Assembly Education Committee on April 8.
AB 1025 (Thurmond, 2015) requires the California Department of
Education (CDE) to establish a three-year pilot program to
encourage inclusive practices that integrate mental health,
special education, and school climate interventions
following a multi-tiered framework. AB 1025 is pending by
the Assembly Education Committee.
SB 527 (Liu, 2015) establishes the Safe Neighborhoods and
Schools Fund Grant Program, using Proposition 47 funds to
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reward school districts that have demonstrated a commitment
to, and developed a comprehensive plan for, utilizing
research-based strategies to increase attendance rates, to
reduce school removals of all types and referrals to
police, to address trauma, mental health needs and other
social and emotional factors that impact pupil outcomes, to
address and to remedy school push-out and dropout rates,
coordinate pupil support programs with community and other
public agencies at schoolsites and across the school
district, and create a strong and supportive school culture
that identifies and addresses the needs of pupils,
including victims of crime, abuse, and neglect. SB 527 is
scheduled to be heard by this Committee on April 15.
PRIOR LEGISLATION
SB 1396 (Hancock, 2014) required the CDE, to the extent one-time
funding is available in the 2014-15 Budget Act, to
designate funds to a county office of education to
establish professional development activities to support
the development and expansion of multi-tiered intervention
and support programs,
including but not limited to, schoolwide positive behavior
intervention and support. SB 1396 was held on the Assembly
Appropriations Committee's suspense file.
SB 596 (Yee, 2014) required the California Department of
Education (CDE) to establish a three-year pilot program to
encourage inclusive practices that integrate mental health,
special education, and school climate interventions following a
multi-tiered framework. SB 596 was held in the Assembly.
SUPPORT
Alliance for Boys and Men of Color
Black Parallel School Board
California Association of School Psychologists
California Now
Children's Defense Fund California
Dolores Huerta Foundation
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids California
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Legal Services for Children
National Association of Social Workers - California
National Center for Youth Law
Policy Link
Public Counsel
Restorative Schools Vision Project
Students First
The Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center of Orange County
The Labor/Community Strategy Center's Community Rights Campaign
Violence Prevention Coalition
OPPOSITION
None received.
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